(Editor’s note: Montana State athletics release)
BOZEMAN — Montana State’s Ty Mogan and Kelsi Lasota each earned top 10 finishes in stacked fields on Saturday, Sept. 29, to lead the Bobcat cross country teams at the Roy Griak Invitational. The Bobcat women placed fifth out of 14 teams and the men finished sixth of 15 in the meet hosted by the University of Minnesota at Les Bolstad Golf Course.
The Division I portion of the meet got its start with the men’s 8-kilometer race Saturday morning. The Bobcats’ Ty Moganput together another stellar performance for MSU. The Laurel, Mont., native placed second overall behind Harvard’s Kieran Tuntivate by just 1.4 seconds. His final mark was 24 minutes, 34.8 seconds.
The Bobcat men’s scoring lineup was rounded out by Duncan Hamilton, Collin Buck, Isaac Schmidt and Riley Collins. Hamilton finished 23rd in a time of 25:11.5, Buck took 30th by crossing in at 25:24.8, Schmidt placed 37th in 25:34.6 and Collins took 61st with a time of 26:05.2.
Also competing on the men’s side were Cooper West and Braden Stremcha. West placed 71st overall with a mark of 26:16.7 and Stremcha finished 88th with a time of 26:34.6.
MSU’s men closed out their appearance with 145 points. Duke narrowly edged Minnesota to win the men’s race by just three points, 77-74. The Bobcats finished behind Navy (138) but ahead of Drake (155) in the team standings.
Senior Kelsi Lasota set the pace for the women’s squad as she placed eighth in the women’s 6K race by crossing the finish line in 21:40.3. Samantha Kelderman and Gillian Maness were right behind her, as Kelderman (21:50.1) finished 13th and Maness (22:12.1) took 25th overall.
Layne Oliver and Trisha Carlson contributed to MSU’s final team score. Oliver placed 47th with a time of 22:33.3. Carlson, who made her opening appearance of the season, finished 56th by crossing the line in 22:49.2.
Madison Liechty and Kendra Larson closed out the Bobcats’ showing at the Roy Griak Invite. Liechty (22:54.1) finished 61st and Larson (24:18.0) placed 117th.
The Bobcat women’s team finished the meet with 133 points. The host Golden Gophers won the women’s competition with 52 points.
Montana State’s cross country squads return to the Midwest for their next meet. The Bobcats are scheduled to participate in the NCAA DI Pre-National meet hosted by Wisconsin on Oct. 13.
